Q. When did Desperate Journalist started, tell us about the history...We've all known each other socially for a while, were all in various different bands - some with each other and some not - and we live in the same part of London and hate/love the same things. We had a rehearsal just to try out the arrangement and clicked fairly quickly so we kind of just kept on doing it - our first gig was in January 2013, at a grunge club, which was pretty strange as we're not really grungy at all.

Q: Who are your influences?We like loads of different stuff between us but I suppose in terms of what we actually make, it's essentially 1980-95ish alternative rock/indie. Bands like the Smiths, REM, Birdland, The Cure, McCarthy - smart melodic guitar bands.

Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?We wanted to reflect the actual sound of the band as much as possible and steer clear of overproduction and multiple superfluous parts which seem so endemic in guitar music these days. We therefore opted to record as live as possible over 5 days with minimal overdubs. We had complete control over the whole process, from choosing what and how to record down to mixing it ourselves. We were keen for the songs to be captured as they are, and the sound of them to reflect their intent and content - not to dress them up as something they are not.

Q. Which new bands do you recommendedShopping, Joanna Gruesome, Perfect Pussy

Q: Which bands would you love to make a cover version of?We have done a few covers here and there but whilst we all love loads of bands we mainly focus on making our own stuff to be honest. Maybe UB40.

Q: What´s the plan for the future....We're launching the album on 22nd January at the Lexington in London, and then we're going to continue to work on the next one. We're due to go on tour of the UK in the spring and our album's released in the US on 26th January.